EMD Millipore Launches CpGenome™ Direct Prep Bisulfite Modification Kit for Simplified One-Step Conversion of Unmethylated Cytosines

EMD Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, has introduced the CpGenome™ Direct Prep Bisulfite Modification Kit, which performs bisulfite conversion directly from cells, tissues, blood and formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples without DNA purification. By eliminating the need to isolate genomic DNA prior to performing bisulfite analysis, the kit provides a simple and reliable protocol for one-step bisulfite conversion.

The new kit offers conversion efficiencies of more than 99.5% and only requires limited amounts of input material, working with as few as 10 cells or as low as 50 pg of DNA. It is suitable for downstream analysis by methylation specific PCR, restriction digestion, sequencing and microarray hybridization, and its in-column desulfonation allows for the recovery of DNA without additional precipitation steps, producing more consistent results.

"Any laboratory wanting to streamline its bisulfite analysis can benefit from the new CpGenome™ kit," says Michael Sturges, Ph.D., Senior Product Manager, Epigenetics, EMD Millipore. "In particular, this new approach is ideal for researchers working with FFPE samples, since it provides detailed guidance for working with these types of samples, as well as laboratories performing methylation analysis from limited amounts of starting materials."